WATCHMEN Movie Review

It’d be impossible to fully sum up “Watchmen” with its complex storyline and powerful delivery, but after watching it this afternoon I can calm fears of those who closely guarded the original. “Watchmen” comes as close as I could have hoped to capturing everything the story held and while I didn’t find it as exhilarating as I did Zack Snyder‘s “300” I still left the theater very satisfied and pleased with the result.

The special effects and overall world of “Watchmen” was impressive, possibly most of all was Dr. Manhattan’s seamless integration with those around him. Casting felt like a perfect fit as well and despite forewarnings of Malin Akerman‘s performance I would like to disagree and commend her work in the film. One argument I read was that her character was weak, but unfortunately all of the characters ultimately felt underdeveloped, something I blame on the complexity and size of the source. That being said, I strongly believe audience members who have read Alan Moore’s masterpiece will feel much more at ease with their padded understand of “Watchmen.”

Lastly, I must comment on the ending. I won’t spoil it for the uninitiated, but I will say the change I had heard of was what I expected. It almost did work better than the original and considering the change was really only in its delivery and not the result I don’t think it’s worth fighting. While I didn’t mind that change I must put my foot down on the very final scene in the film. Changing that one moment was inexcusable and leaves an entirely different final feeling. Not cool.

I’d give Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” a 4 out of 5 stars. I’m hoping the eventual release of more complete editions with “The Black Freighter” and “Under the Hood” will give it that much desired finished feeling.

Update:One afterthought I’d add is that the use of its soundtrack (not original score material, but songs like “Along the Watchtower”) felt very odd and forced. It was almost “Forrest Gump” with the application of time piece songs and even then the time of those songs were still all wrong. Original music would have been much better here.